We aren't that far off base you and I. My intention wasn't to insist that PIP alone are the determining factor. I just think it's one of the results that highlight the differences in philosophy between Flip and LB. I don't particularly care for Flip's coaching philosophy and to date there hasn't really been any substance in MIN or DET (as far as playoff performance goes) to change my mind.

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But I think that particular stat indicates that there might not have been that much of a difference in the emphasis on jump shots, as far as the '05 conference finals against Miami is concerned. The Pistons won Games 1 and 7 despite getting outscored by 22 on PIP, which indicates that they won those two games as a primarily jump-shooting team, while the Heat were much more successful at pounding it inside.

Most people aren't aware that Brown coached arugably one of the most talented pro-basketball teams ever (The Denver Rockets of the ABA) in 1974-75 and 1975-76 winning a total of 125 games and only losing 43 for a .726 winning percentage and yet he wasn't able to win a title either year!!!

But I think that particular stat indicates that there might not have been that much of a difference in the emphasis on jump shots, as far as the '05 conference finals against Miami is concerned. The Pistons won Games 1 and 7 despite getting outscored by 22 on PIP, which indicates that they won those two games as a primarily jump-shooting team, while the Heat were much more successful at pounding it inside.

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True, but the Heat have Shaq. Not many teams are going to win PIP in a 7 game series against him. We simply took less of an arse whoopin in that department with LB's gameplan....sort of a lesser of two evils (the evil being a focus on perimeter shots).

i wasn't down on flip last year and still think we woulda won the championship if sheed didn't hurt his ankle so badly. we were CRUISING through the playoffs until that happened.

i'm willing to give him a pass until i see how the pistons do in the playoffs with a *healthy* lineup. do you guys not remember being down 3-2 to indiana in the championship year, losing a triple-overtime game in which larry brown kept memo on the bench? do you not remember being down 3-2 to the heat last year, and putting tayshaun (instead of dice) on duncan in the 4th quarter of game 7? it's not like larry was perfect or that we had a cakewalk through those playoff runs...

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A couple things. We were never down 3-2 to Indiana in 03-04, your thinking New Jersey. We beat Indiana 4-2 that season. The point of your analysis is right on though.

In response to roscoe's original post: if last year taught us anything, it is that the regular season is useless in projecting the playoffs. Flip's statement that he wanted to make Wade chase Rip on D was progress, but there's no point in saying Flip has improved until we see what happens in the playoffs. Until something changes there, he's still a guy whose fundamental approach to the game is ill-conceived. And LB has nothing to do with that.

In response to roscoe's original post: if last year taught us anything, it is that the regular season is useless in projecting the playoffs.

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My dear friend, the regular season is indicative of how a playoffs might unfold. The Heat did what we did in 2004. They gathered momentum in the second half.

If we see this team leading the standings at the All-Star break and going into the playoffs with reduced momentum, we will all know what that means.

But if they roll into the playoffs in a dominant fashion, look out. This team has the pieces. It has the bench intelligence, and I believe it has the organizational commitment to take a run at winning this year.

I know one thing. Last season, Flip tried to coach like LB. He kept a short rotation and let the players run a defensive system he didn't agree with. That's not his style. Even in Minny, he was known as a guy who couldn't settle on a rotation, keeping butts moving across that bench searching for consistency and effort.

I think this season we have the 2004 Flip, but with this roster instead of KG, Cassell and Spree.

Hey, The Low is no dummy. But I am sitting through these games trying to break them down. I'm no dummy either. I've recorded the last 5 and have watched them at least twice trying to figure out what is what.

I don't want false hope either. I want intellectual confirmation that what I think I am seeing is really there.

This team is playing decent man defense and good zone. This team is absolutely in a zone offensively, riding the hot hand, exploiting almost every single mismatch. Teams are scared of our offense for the first time in years. More so than last season even.

And somehow, we've found a way to rotate 10 men occassionally playing a young guy.

In response to roscoe's original post: if last year taught us anything, it is that the regular season is useless in projecting the playoffs.

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Slight correction.

Its the regular season record that means nothing not the play. Looking closely one saw all the signs of a playoff collapse based on the bottom 1/3 of the season. The cumulative record did not show this, but the play on the court spoke volumes.

But I think that particular stat indicates that there might not have been that much of a difference in the emphasis on jump shots, as far as the '05 conference finals against Miami is concerned. The Pistons won Games 1 and 7 despite getting outscored by 22 on PIP, which indicates that they won those two games as a primarily jump-shooting team, while the Heat were much more successful at pounding it inside.

True, but the Heat have Shaq. Not many teams are going to win PIP in a 7 game series against him. We simply took less of an arse whoopin in that department with LB's gameplan....sort of a lesser of two evils (the evil being a focus on perimeter shots).

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Looks like the numbers don't support your point. Let's look at PIP for the four games that the Pistons lost to the Heat in the conference finals last year:

So as compared to Games 1 and 7 in '05, when Miami had a 52-30 PIP lead in both of those games, the only one in '06 where the Pistons did worse in that category was Game 3. Game 1 was about the same as the previous year, and Games 4 and 6 were noticeably better for the Pistons on PIP, with the Heat scoring way fewer points inside than they did in previous games. We both agree that this one particular stat doesn't tell the entire story. But, the Pistons' PIP numbers seem to indicate that they weren't any more of a jump-shooting team against the Heat in '06 than they were in '05.

I get it...so, I guess Flip will be ready to bring home the gold in say....2036. Solid! I can't wait!

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Sure you can and enjoy yourself in the meantime. Of course there is no guarantee that Flip will be coaching the Pistons in 2036. He could be coaching Darko at Orlando. After all Darko will only be 40 then.

My dear friend, the regular season is indicative of how a playoffs might unfold.

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I do believe that

1. Sheed's injury
2. The starting 5 being worn down by playing too many minutes during the regualar season.
3. The young legs of Wade just blowing by everyone who had tired legs. Which unfortunately was the whole starting unit. (see #2 above)
4. Riles outcoaching Flip. (This wasn't the first time that Riles has outcoached someone)

Roscoe, fair enough. The regular season can be used as a barometer to see who peaks too soon. I should have been more specific -- there is nothing about regular-season Xs and Os that extrapolates to the playoffs. It's two different seasons.

Acknowleged:

1. Flip will be coaching as himself this year. I'd rather him coach his own flawed system than half-ass it in someone else's. That is a recepie for failure always.

I will be personally reminding all of the detractors that there are no excuses if the Pistons win a title with Flip. If everyone is so playoffs/results oriented, then we will let the playoff results speak for themselves.

I can't guarantee that the Pistons will win a title, but if this is how they are going to roll, I feel a hell of a lot better about it than I did 6 months ago.